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Suit over Michigan gay couples denied adoptions can proceed

DETROIT, MI (AP)--   A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit which says Michigan is illegally allowing faith-based groups to reject same-sex couples who want to adopt children or become foster parents.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman said in an order issued Friday that the couples had successfully argued that the faith-based groups' religious screening practices harmed them.

The Detroit News reports that Borman wrote in his order that the groups' practices denied the couples "the same opportunities to work with a child placing agency that is available to every other family in Michigan seeking to adopt."

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in September 2017, alleging that Michigan is violating the U.S. Constitution by allowing groups to use a religious test to carry out public services.

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